Two Way Mirror
by West-Coast-Waters-Canada
Summary: They were the best of friends as long as they did not know they were supposed to be enemies. The truth would do its damage soon enough. (Quote from "The Rose Society" by Marie Lu). Miraculous AU where Adrien and Marinette are best friends, but Chat Noir and Ladybug are enemies. Chapter story.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

'How long have I been fighting?' The question flew lazily across Ladybug's mind, her weakening strength making her thoughts slow.  
Another blow had her falling onto her side, then raising a hand quickly to pull herself back up again. She stood gasping, clutching a wall for support.

'How many times have I fallen?'

Another attack, this time directed at her left leg, flew her way. Ladybug managed to dodge to one side, almost losing her balance over a roof tile. Gripping her yo-yo tightly in her hands, Ladybug wound up and threw her weapon forward, hoping that this time, this time, she would stop the akuma long enough to retrieve its possessed object, a very expensive looking hair pin.

Ladybug's attack was easily deflected by the akuma, its laughter barking out in the night. She didn't know what had caused the woman before her to become akumatized. She hadn't had much time to make a guess, either, her mind preoccupied on the giant, ornate hammer the woman wielded.

'I can't keep this up much longer...'

The thought sent a thread of anxiety through Ladybug's chest, rousing some of her fading strength. Dodging away from more of the akuma's attacks, Ladybug threw her yo-yo up into the air, calling on her most trusted power.

"Lucky Charm!"

A whirl of colour, a swoop of motion, and Ladybug caught in her hands a length of thick, ladybug spotted chain. She didn't stop to think of a plan, allowing her eyes to work their magic as always. The world went gray around her, three pieces of the scene popping out in vibrant ladybug patterns.

'A wall on my right, a chimney to my left, and the akuma's hammer itself.'

"Hey, akuma!" Ladybug chocked out between breathes. "You're finished! You won't get my miraculous!" It was a weak statement, but Ladybug just hoped it was enough to anger the akuma into another attack.

With a yell, the akuma gave Ladybug her wish and swung the hammer back, winding up for another hit. Ladybug ran for the wall to her right as the akuma let loose her attack, hammer flying for Ladybug's head. A grin crossed the akuma's face; it was clear she thought she had won, Ladybug hadn't moved an inch from against the wall.

At the last second, Ladybug side stepped and brought her chain up, wrapping it around the hammer as it exploded against the wall. Shards of brick spraying around her, she pushed off of the wall behind her, flying for the chimney, and tied the weapon around it, bounding it tightly with the chain.

Shock was clear on the akuma's face, and she hesitated before looking round for Ladybug. Before the akuma could register what happened next, she felt a hand slip through her hair, felt her hair pin sliding across her scalp.

It was snapped between Ladybug's fingers just as a scream touched the akuma's lips. Ladybug quickly opened her yo-yo, swinging it forward one more time to capture the black butterfly as it fluttered into the sky, cleansing it of evil.

As the now white butterfly flew away, Ladybug muttered a quiet "Goodbye, little butterfly." She turned to the woman beside her on the roof, at the confused expression on her face, and sighed her relief. Lifting her lips into a smile small, Ladybug held out a hand to the woman.

"Don't worry, you're safe now. Let's get you off this roof."

The woman raised her hand to grip the super hero's. "Ladybug, what...?"

Ladybug shot her a comforting smile, grabbing the woman around the waist and swinging them down off the building's roof. Setting them gently on the sidewalk below, she turned towards the woman, parting her lips to offer more reassurance.

That's when Ladybug felt it. Eyes drilling into her back, an unwelcome presence watching her from behind. Ladybug chocked on a gasp, shock making her body go rigid in the dim light the moon gave. She turned her head slowly behind her, right arm still holding the previous akuma victim.

He was on the roof from which they had just vacated. Standing poised on the same chimney, green eyes catching the light of the street lamps.

Ladybug's eyes never left his form. "Go..." she managed quietly, releasing her arm from the woman's side. When the woman remained where she was, Ladybug's panic helped her find her voice.

"GO! Run, now, get away from here!" she shouted. A small gasp came from the woman, and Ladybug mercifully heard her retreating footsteps. The civilian safe, she focused her attention fully on the boy above her.  
He hadn't moved a muscle, glaring down out her like a statue.

'Why now?! Why did he have to show up tonight!'

Chat Noir.


	2. Chapter 1

"Adrien, what are you doing after school today?" Marinette whispered down to her friend in the seat front of her. By the twitch of the blonde's head, Marinette knew he had heard her, but he kept his eyes down on the paper in front of him. A cough from the front of the room alerted Mari to the teacher whom had witness her attempt to gain the boys attention. Sliding back into her seat, Marinette huffed and returned her gaze to her own paper. With only 10 minutes left in class, she'd decided to save the half finished worksheet for homework.

Looking to her left, she saw her friend Alya hard at work on the assignment. Marinette knew Alya had plans after school that she wouldn't let homework get in the way of, so talking to her right now was out of the question.

With both of Marinette's best friends busy, she figured she might as well tackle another question or two before the bell.

"Sorry about that, Marinette. Ms. Mendeleiev already caught me talking to Nino a couple of times during the last hour. I didn't want to risk a detention." Adrien explained after the bell had rung.

Marinette stuffed her textbook and papers into her bag before turning to her friend. "No worries. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble. Besides, Alya's busy today so I need someone to hang out with."

Adrien mocked a hurt look beside her. "I'm your second choice, am I? I don't know, Marinette, I could suddenly have a lot of plans today that don't involve you..."

Marinette scoffed. "Fine, then I guess you don't want to come over and try the chocolate croissants my dad was going to make this afternoon." Mari swung her bag over her shoulder and walked past Adrien, sending a wink over her shoulder at the look on his face.

"You know I didn't really mean that, don't you, Mari?" He winked back, following her out of the classroom. He caught up to her at the door and headed out of the school with her at his side.

Marinette laughed. "Of course you didn't, you wouldn't seriously risk your chances of food from the bakery" she sent back at him.

"Well, you got me there. So? What's the plan? Am I watching you work on another sewing project?"

Marinette shook her head. "I need to finish Ms. Mendeleiev's assignment, I was hoping you could help me with it. We can watch a movie or something while we do it. Besides, I've made you sit and watch me sew a lot lately."

"I don't really mind, it's cool to watch. And I'll help you with Ms. Mendeleiev assignment if you help me with Ms. Bustier's essay. Deal?" Adrien asked, extending his fist to Marinette for their customary fist bump.

Marinette raised her own fist to meet his. "Deal."  
2 hours of frustration, confusion, and a whole lot of cursing later, Marinette and Adrien finally finished their homework, if you could call it finished.

Adrien's essay had more or less reached the expected amount of words... He just hoped the teacher wouldn't notice the numerous times he repeated his points. As for Marinette's assignment, all of the questions had been answered. She had, for the most part, tried her best. If any if the questions were wrong at this point, she simply didn't want to know.

The movie the two teens had chosen when they had first arrived at Marinette's house was nearing its end. Marinette stretched her arms above her head from her position on the couch, earning a series of pops from her back that soon had Adrien laughing beside her.

"You know that wouldn't happen if you didn't slouch so much, right? You should really improve your posture," Adrien teased.

Marinette smirked. "Old habits die hard. Not all of us were raised to be models with perfect posture."

"Fair enough" Adrien conceded with a smile as the end credits of their movie appeared.

Marinette stood up, grabbing up papers from her lap as she went. "Do you want to stay for dinner tonight? I think my moms making sliders, they're always amazing."

Adrien sighed and lay his head back against the couch. "I wish I could, but my father wants me home tonight."

"Dang, bad luck" Marinette replied, shooting her friend a sympathetic look. A long yawn broke out of her as she stretched once more. "Oh well, next time I guess."

"Yeah... Anyway, I should probably head back now. Are you sure you don't want to go over your assignment one more time before I leave?"

The look Marinette gave Adrien told him that she'd rather avoid the subject. Laughing quietly, Adrien gathered his own work into his bag and headed for her door, Marinette following behind.

"Thanks for your help Adrien! Text me later if you feel like it, otherwise see you at school tomorrow!" Marinette smiled as she held the door for her friend.

"No problem, thank you, too. See you later, Marinette!"

The glass door to the front of the bakery swung shut as Marinette watched him wave one more goodbye. Finally, she let a blush touch her cheeks as she watched the retreated form of her friend.  
It was happening more frequently. Akuma after akuma, night after night. Marinette could hardly catch a break these days. The constant fighting was putting a strain on her daily life, energy no longer a constant as the days passed.

But the akumas were nothing, nothing compared to him. He wasn't always there, he didn't always come; if he did, Marinette was sure that the weight of her secret life would have collapsed into her civilian life long ago. The power hidden inside his dark form was near equal to Ladybug; she wasn't sure which of the two were stronger. She wouldn't say that she was afraid of him. But when she would catch the first glimpse of those electric green eyes, his lithe, dark form; a shiver would find its way up Ladybug's spine, a cold worked its way across her skin, and her body tensed in preparation for his attack.

He didn't hold back, and he showed no mercy. Ladybug had only had a hand full of chances to get a good look at his face, their time in each others presence at large spent fighting. But when she got the opportunity, had stolen a glance between hits, she couldn't help the punch-to-her-gut feeling she got from the look of his eyes.

Cold. Dangerous. Inhuman. It was like there was no one there, a puppet on a string. No boy behind the mask.

Now, Marinette gazed towards the moon, a crescent in the sky, Chat Noir's dark silhouette a splash in the night, and felt a small tremor of fear. She was already weak from fighting the akuma, which had been stronger than normal tonight, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to stand her ground against him.

It didn't make a difference though, how she felt. She would have to fight him, he wouldn't allow her retreat. She would just have to play his game until he grew tired of it. All she could do was prepare herself. Ladybug tightened her grip on the yo-yo in hand, and took a deep, steadying breath.

She heard her miraculous beep loudly in the still night and pushed down a small wave of panic. 5 minutes.

Chat Noir's face split into a wide grin, teeth gleaming in the dim light of the moon. As fast as a cat, he was on her, barring down with weapon in hand and a twisted look of pleasure in his empty eyes.

Ladybug pulled her yo-yo string taught over her head to block Chat Noir's attack. The baton's weight slammed hard against it, digging the cord into Ladybug's hands. With an upwards push, she crashed the weapon into the side of his face. Swiping it back behind him, Chat let out a low growl and swung this time towards Ladybug's left hip with relentless speed.

In her tired state, Ladybug's reflexes were not up to par, and the loud crack accompanying the burst of agony in her side sent her reeling to the pavement. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, and Ladybug bit down on her lip to hold them back. She pushed the heel of her hand into the ground and began to push herself upwards, but a spasm of pain brought her back down.

Beep, beep, beep. 4 minutes.

A shadow loomed over her then, the cat ears pointing out from the figure leaving no room to hope that is was someone else standing before, no hope that someone had come to her rescue... Ladybug lifted her blue gaze to meet Chat Noir's bright green. Defiance glinted in Ladybug's eyes; Cold anger in his.

Chat Noir's hand was poised high above his head, the familiar sight of Cataclysm swirling between his claws. Ladybug's breath hitched in her throat. She was caught; She wouldn't be able to stand up fast enough to avoid him. There's was nothing around her that could help.

'Think... Think...'

Ladybug's mind churned desperately for a way out of this. A plan, a weapon, anything...

Her lucky charm. The chain.

It was still on the roof.

Quick as lightning, Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo and threw it hard towards the nearest building, swinging away mere seconds before Chat Noir's cataclysm tore through the concrete she had just vacated.

'That takes care of Cataclysm.'

Ladybug landed on the roof, immediately shooting her yo-yo once more to the building she had fought the akuma on.

As she flew through the air, Ladybug became aware of Char Noir following close behind. Landing gracelessly on the roof tiles, she ran towards the chimney that held her last hope. The akuma's hammer had disappeared when she purified the butterfly, and the chain now lay slack around the chimneys base. Grabbing it up quickly, Ladybug spun around to face the slamming of feet landing behind her.

She needed a plan, but the magic in her eyes didn't make anything jump out at her like usual. This charm had served its original purpose, it was just a normal chain now. She would have to figure something out on her own.

3 minutes.

Pounding footsteps raced in her direction, surprising Ladybug out of her thoughts. There was no time to come up with a plan; there was only action.

Chat Noir tried again to land a hit with his baton. Ladybug's speed was decreased significantly; the weight of pain and exhaustion wearing her down. Using the chain now, she stopped his weapon before it could reach her body, but the strength behind it slammed her into a wall, knocking the air from her lungs.

An idea began to form in Ladybug's mind. It was simple, it wouldn't be much of a win, but it should get her out of this situation.

2 minutes.

He was running towards her again, this time doing exactly what she wanted. Putting on a look of defeat, Ladybug shrank back against the wall, displaying on image of defeat. Chat Noir grin grew wider as he drew near, raising his baton above him to bring it down on her head.

It was just like with the akuma; at the last second, Ladybug side stepped, this time wrapping the chain around Chat Noir's hips. Pulling hard, she spun him around in a wide arc, then slammed him hard against the stone wall.

He instantly slumped to the ground, head lolling to the side, unconscious. Ladybug stood in front of him, chest heaving as she drew in breath after breath. It wasn't her best work, but it was better then defeat. She felt a small thrill of satisfaction at the bruise spreading across his cheek from where she hit him before.

Picking up the chain once more, she threw it up into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

Even the effort of yelling this to the sky drained her, but as the purifying light washed over her, she felt much of her pain fading from her stiff limbs. The fatigue was still there, as was the pain in her hip. That would leave a mark.

Beep, beep!

With one minute to spare, Ladybug took off, swinging her way home, making a mental note to get Tikki an extra large plate of cookies, and maybe a plate for herself too.

'I think I'll skip morning classes tomorrow...'


End file.
